Mackintosh 150 and Beyond Campaign

That the Parliament notes the campaign, Mackintosh 150 and Beyond, which celebrated the legacy of the architect, designer and artist, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, during the 150th anniversary of his birth; understands that the campaign helped to attract 1.2 million people to Mackintosh venues in Glasgow and the West of Scotland in 2018, which resulted in a 29% increase in footfall on the previous year; acknowledges in particular that the temporary exhibition, Charles Rennie Mackintosh Making the Glasgow Style at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, attracted tens of thousands of visitors, and believes that the exhibition was one of the highlights of the year-long programme of events; believes that the level of public interest in Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style demonstrated over the course of the campaign underscores the importance of his legacy to Glasgow’s tourism economy; notes that, in June 2018, one of the most well known Charles Rennie Mackintosh buildings at the Glasgow School of Art (GSA) was devastated by fire for the second time in four years under its stewardship, and believes that there is a growing case for considering whether the Mackintosh building should be rebuilt as a public asset, such as a museum and tourist hub, for the city of Glasgow, rather than as a private art school.